Permits & NOCs · Operating permits for businesses

Signage, temporary tent and shisha permits

For shops, restaurants, cafés, hotels and event organisers who need a sign on the façade, a temporary tent or structure, or permission to serve shisha. We work out which authority issues each permit, prepare the drawings and documents, and coordinate the safety approvals behind them.

Three permits that businesses often leave until the last week before opening: the sign over the door, the tent for Ramadan or an event, and the permit to serve shisha. Each is issued by a different authority, each has its own rules, and each can delay an opening or close a venue if it is missing.

They share a pattern. The permit itself is often quick, but it depends on things that aren't: a sign that fits the façade rules, a tent with Civil Defence approval, or premises whose size and location meet the smoking-area conditions. These are design and planning questions, best answered before the fit-out drawings are fixed.

This page sets out who issues what, the main rules published by the authorities, and where projects tend to go wrong. The authorities issue the permits. We help you prepare for them and coordinate the applications.

Advertising and shopfront signage permits

Under Decree No. 6 of 2020 regulating advertisements in Dubai, no one may display an advertisement in any advertising space without a permit. The decree also requires anyone carrying on an economic activity to display a sign on their premises' façade showing the activity and trade name. A shop sign is therefore both required and regulated.

Who issues which signage permit

The decree assigns advertising permits to different entities depending on where the advertisement is:

Where the sign or advert is	Competent entity under Decree No. 6 of 2020
Façades of commercial outlets and centres	The economic department (now the Department of Economy and Tourism)
Vacant land, buildings, coastal, water and desert areas	Dubai Municipality
Roads, right of way, transport and vehicles	RTA
Free zones and special development zones	The zone's own authority

The system has since been consolidated. Mada Media, established under Law No. 20 of 2024, operates under a concession with RTA and Dubai Municipality and launched a unified online platform in April 2025. It covers advertising on the right of way, public transport, commercial vehicles, private land and buildings. In May 2026, Dubai's Media Office confirmed that the Department of Economy and Tourism issues permits for trade-name signage on shopfronts.

Shopfront sign rules

The Outdoor Advertising Manual, issued in 2024 by RTA and Dubai Municipality in coordination with Mada Media and approved by Administrative Resolution No. 180 of 2025, sets the technical rules. For shopfront trade-name signs, the published points include:

One trade name per establishment. More than one advertisement or trade name on a shopfront is not allowed.
Horizontal signs only, with Arabic above English. Vertical signs are not permitted on shopfronts.
Projection from one side only.
Dimensions in proportion to the shopfront's height and width.
Brightness within permitted levels, avoiding bright white backgrounds.
Static content only. Videos and moving or changing images are not permitted.
No signs on balconies, or on the external façade above ground floor for offices, clinics and commercial outlets.

Billboards, rooftop and building signs

Larger advertising structures have their own services. Dubai Municipality lists permits for billboards on buildings and on land, roof and pole advertisements, approval of billboard advertising content, and approval of signboard design in historical areas. These signs also need structural design and fixing details, and often the building owner's consent.

Under the decree, fines for violations range from AED 1,000 to AED 15,000, doubled for a repeat within a year up to AED 30,000. The competent entity can also remove unpermitted adverts at the violator's cost, plus an administrative charge.

Temporary tent and structure permits

Ramadan tents, event marquees, seasonal kiosks and outdoor canopies are temporary, but they are still structures with occupants, electrics and fire risk. The permit route depends on who is putting up the tent and where.

Hotel entertainment tents

The Department of Economy and Tourism has a temporary tent permit for hotel events, applied for through its ePermits system. Its published requirements include a Civil Defence approval or NOC and a Dubai Municipality approval letter. Once the tent permit is issued, the hotel applies for the event permit for that venue.

Mainland plots and events

Dubai Municipality lists a permit for temporary land use, covering temporary activities linked to projects under construction or to events and entertainment. It also lists a separate temporary winter camp permit for personal family use during the camping season.

DDA zones

DDA lists an event permit for its TECOM areas, which needs stamped structural drawings where temporary construction is involved, and a temporary construction permit. DDA publishes AED 5,000 and 4 working days for the temporary construction permit, valid for 6 months.

Trakhees areas

Trakhees publishes a modification NOC application form specifically for temporary facilities in its jurisdiction.

What tent approvals usually look at

Fire safety. Flame-retardant fabric and finishes, exits, extinguishers, emergency lighting and safe cooking arrangements, reviewed by Civil Defence.
Structure and wind. Frame design, anchoring and ballast, with drawings from a specialist contractor or consultant.
Electrical safety. Temporary power, cabling routes and lighting clear of fabric.
Location. No blocking of roads, footpaths, parking, fire access or utility lines.
Landlord or developer consent. A master developer or landlord NOC is commonly required.

Shisha and designated smoking area permits

Shisha may only be served with a permit from Dubai Municipality's Health and Safety Department. DM lists a "Permit for Designated Smoking Area or Selling Tobacco and Related Products", which it describes as a free temporary or permanent permit covering cigarettes and shisha. The rules come from Federal Law No. 15 of 2009 on tobacco control, its executive regulations in Cabinet Resolution No. 24 of 2013, and DM's technical guideline for issuing smoking-area permits.

Conditions in DM's smoking-area guideline

DM's published guideline sets premises conditions that decide whether a venue can be considered at all. They include:

At least 150 metres between the premises and residential buildings, residential neighbourhoods or houses
At least 150 metres from kindergartens, schools, institutes, colleges and universities
An indoor area of at least 200 m², with a café hall of at least 150 m²
Where the venue is a restaurant, the shisha area no more than 50{b6bd08b3c1132384522624c50ccc0d18a78d323afdbe829335e256301401c2e5} of the hall
A separate external entrance, as in the building's approved design, isolation from the rest of the building, and a ceiling height of at least 3 m
Ventilation and air conditioning to the specifications in Cabinet Resolution No. 24 of 2013

DM inspections have also flagged expired tobacco, minors in smoking areas, and ventilation or air conditioning not being run, so operating conditions matter as much as the design.

Why shisha is a design question

Because the conditions cover distance, area, entrance and ventilation, they need checking before a lease is signed. A café that fails the 150-metre test, or has no separate external entrance, can't be fixed by better drawings. Once a site passes, the fit-out has to deliver the ventilation, separation and fire safety, and that design feeds the Civil Defence and food-safety approvals. Our restaurant and F&B approvals service covers those, and our article on shisha café licensing looks at the business side.

Documents commonly needed

Trade licenceWith the activity that matches the sign, event or shisha service.
Lease and landlord NOCConsent from the building owner or mall, and the master developer where relevant.
Sign drawingsElevation of the shopfront with the sign dimensions, lighting, materials and fixing details.
Tent layout and structureSite plan, layout, structural drawings and fabric certificates.
Civil Defence approvalFor tents, and for fit-outs of shisha venues.
Premises layoutFor shisha: hall area, smoking area, entrance, ventilation and air-conditioning design.
Site planTo show distances and permitted use. See our affection plan page.

How we approach these permits

Identify the issuing authority

Mainland or free zone, shopfront or billboard, hotel or restaurant: the answer decides which authority and system to use.

Our team

Test the premises against the rules

Façade proportions for signs, location and access for tents, distance and area tests for shisha.

Our team + you

Prepare drawings and documents

Sign elevations, tent structure and layout, or the smoking-area design, with landlord and developer consents.

Consultant · specialist contractor

Safety approvals first

Civil Defence and structural approvals are obtained where the main permit depends on them.

Consultant · Civil Defence

Apply and follow up

The application goes through the issuing authority's system, by you or your licensed contractor, with our coordination.

Applicant · authority

Common mistakes

Ordering the sign before approval. A vertical sign, two brand names or an animated screen can't be approved under the shopfront rules.
Putting the tent up first. Unpermitted structures can be removed and fined. Allow time for the Civil Defence review.
Signing a lease for a shisha café without checking distances. The location test can't be designed away.
Assuming mall or free zone rules match the mainland. Landlords and zone authorities add their own conditions.
Forgetting renewals. Temporary permits expire, and seasonal tents and some signage need renewing.

Signage, tent and shisha permit FAQs

Do I need a permit for the sign on my shop?

Yes. Dubai's advertising decree requires a trade-name sign on the façade and a permit for any advertisement. Shopfront trade-name sign permits are issued by the Department of Economy and Tourism, and the sign must follow the Outdoor Advertising Manual.

Can I have two brand names on my shopfront?

No. The published shopfront rules allow one trade name per establishment, displayed horizontally with Arabic above English.

Who approves a Ramadan tent at a hotel?

Hotel operators apply to the Department of Economy and Tourism for a temporary tent permit. Its requirements include Civil Defence approval and a Dubai Municipality approval letter.

Can my restaurant add shisha later?

Only if the premises meet DM's smoking-area conditions, including distance from homes and schools, minimum area, a separate entrance and the required ventilation. Many existing restaurants don't qualify, so check before you invest.

Is the shisha permit expensive?

DM describes the designated smoking area permit itself as free. The real cost is in meeting the conditions: the right premises, ventilation and fit-out.

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